


Jonnor Meets Girl Meets World

by orphan_account



Series: Larkle [2]
Category: Girl Meets World, The Fosters (TV 2013)
Genre: Coming Out, Established Relationship, Gen, Homophobia, M/M, New Relationship, admitting feelings, crossover fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-11-10
Packaged: 2018-04-23 20:10:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4890454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jude and Connor find themselves at John Quincy Adams Middle School as part of a student exchange program that sent Riley and Maya to Anchor Beach.  Drawn into Riley and Maya's circle of friends, they meet Lucas and Farkle, but after their other friend Zay's homophobic remarks regarding Jude and Connor when they reveal their relationship to the group, a chain of events swing into motion that could change everything for Lucas, Farkle and John Quincy Adams MS.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Nederlands available: [Jonnor ontmoet Meisje vindt de Wereld](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5118377) by [AlwaysJonnorLove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlwaysJonnorLove/pseuds/AlwaysJonnorLove), [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account)



> This is my first ever fic that's a) a crossover, and b) about _Girl Meets World_. Having plenty of experience writing for _The Fosters_ , I feel pretty confident about getting those characters right, but I started watching _GMW_ only a week ago (though I have seen all the episodes) so I'm less confident about writing for those characters. But when I got this idea and asked Tumblr, everyone seemed to be really interested in this fic, so I'm going to put my nervousness about portraying the characters aside and just do it. 
> 
> I'm going to try to involve all the major characters from _GMW_ , but the focus is going to be on Larkle. Also, beyond the first chapter, the Adams-Foster's won't be very involved in the story at all. But anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this story :)
> 
> (PS I’m sorry about making Zay the sort of villain, I just didn’t have any other characters left to choose from)

Jude and Connor were lounging on the couch on a Saturday afternoon, pretending to watch TV (when in reality they were staring at each other instead) and chatting about nothing in particular.

 

“Hey bubba,” Lena announced when she walked in the front door, returning from running a few errands.

 

“Hey mama,” Jude replied absentmindedly, his focus still elsewhere (on Connor).

 

“Can I talk to you two for a sec?” Lena asked, snapping Jude from his daze.  He immediately muted the TV and turned to look at her, tightening his grip on Connor’s hand (which he had already been holding before she walked in).  “It’s nothing bad, I promise,” she added, noting the stricken expression on Jude’s face.

 

“Oh, okay,” Jude exhaled, letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in.

 

“Here’s the deal: every year, Anchor Beach does a week-long student exchange with another middle school somewhere in the country.  We always send two students, and every year that one of my kids has been in eighth grade, we’ve sent one of them.  We sent Brandon when he was in eighth grade and Mariana too.  Though we didn’t send Jesus, though I’m sure you both understand why; that would’ve been a disaster waiting to happen,” Lena chuckled.  “Anyway, since you’re both in eighth grade, I would like you two to go and represent Anchor Beach this year.  I trust you two to represent us well—at least I trust you two more than any other students I could possibly choose.”

 

“Sounds like fun,” Connor remarked.  “Where would we be going?”

 

“This year, we’re partnering with John Quincy Adams Middle School in New York,” Lena explained.  “You’d be staying with one of the teachers there, Cory Matthews, who will be sending his daughter, Riley, and her best friend, Maya, here.”

 

“What do you think Jude?” Connor inquired, turning to his boyfriend and looking at him hopefully.  It was no secret that Connor wanted to go places and explore the world, while Jude preferred to stay grounded in San Diego.  He’d done enough moving around for one lifetime in just six years.

 

“New York is a long way from San Diego,” Jude mumbled, avoiding eye contact with Connor.  He knew Connor was giving him his puppy dog eyes and Jude didn’t want to be swayed by them.

 

“I know bud,” Lena sighed, sitting down next to Jude and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.  “I understand if you don’t want to go, but I think even if you don’t, I’d still like Connor to go by himself.”

 

Jude’s stomach dropped; Connor going to New York without him was an even worse prospect than going with Connor to New York.  If Connor went to New York alone, Jude’s abandonment anxiety was going to be horrible.  What if Connor found a new, hotter guy than him in New York?  What if Connor fell in love with New York and convinced his dad to move there?  What if, what if, what if?  Those would be the questions that would haunt Jude the whole time Connor was in New York if he wasn’t there.  Faced with those two choices, going with Connor to New York seemed like the obvious choice, whether Jude felt one hundred percent comfortable with that or not.

 

“No, I’ll go,” Jude interjected quickly.  He could handle a week in New York as long as he had Connor with him.  He could handle anything as long as Connor was with him.

 

“Okay, great!” Lena grinned.  “Connor, I’ve already talked to your dad, you’ll be staying here for the night.  I’d like to have a Skype call with the Matthews tonight so we can get a chance to meet and talk to each other before you two fly out tomorrow.”

 

“We’re leaving in tomorrow?!” Jude exclaimed, surprised by the suddenness of the whole thing.

 

“Yeah bubba.  So you two should probably go up so Jude can start packing while you wait for dinner,” Lena said, patting them both on the back before heading out into the kitchen.

 

“Are you sure about this Jude?” Connor questioned, concern lighting up his features.  “I can always tell your mama we don’t want to go if you’re not okay with this.”

 

“Really Connor, I’ll be fine,” Jude answered, giving Connor a small, fake smile.

 

“I love you,” Connor murmured, pulling Jude into his embrace and placing a gentle kiss to his temple.  “I know you’re nervous, but I promise I’ll be right there with you the whole time.”

 

“I love you too.  And thanks.  I know you will,” Jude responded, turning and cocking his head so that he could put a kiss on Connor’s lips.

 

“Now let’s get to work!” Connor said excitedly, pulling Jude up off the couch and dragging him to his room.

 

* * *

 

 

Once dinner was over, the entire Adams-Foster clan crowded around a small laptop.  Jude and Connor were the only ones who got to sit down, squarely in the center of the camera’s view as Lena pressed call.

When the call was answered, the screen lit up to reveal another family, huddled around the laptop just like they were.  In the middle, there was a blonde haired girl sitting on the left (from Jude and Connor’s point of view) of a brunette.  The brunette wore a goofy grin, one that, in a way, reminded Jude of Connor, while the blonde’s face showed an expression of almost disinterest, like she had been unwilling dragged into this whole thing, Connor thought like Jude sometimes looked.  Nestled in between their faces was a man with short, dark curly hair who bore a striking resemblance to the girl on their right.  And on the left and right edges of the screen of the screen were two others, a woman and a young boy.

 

“Good evening Lena,” the man greeted brightly.

 

“Hello Cory.”

 

“So I take it these two in the middle are Jude and Connor?” Cory commented.

 

“Yes,” Lena acknowledged.  “This is my son, Jude, and his boyfriend, Connor,” she continued, gesturing to them as she said their names.

 

“Hey boys,” Cory said warmly.  “And Lena, this is my daughter, Riley,” he added, nodding towards the brunette.  “And that’s my other sort of daughter, Maya.”

 

“Hi,” Riley said dreamily, eyes trained firmly on Connor as she spoke.

 

“Oh boy, here we go,” Jude muttered under his breath, earning a giggle from Connor.  Thankfully, Maya cut in before one of them had to.

 

“Riles!” Maya said sharply, breaking the brunette from her daze.  “What part of the word ‘boyfriend’ don’t you understand?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Connor’s not available so you can stop staring at him.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Anyway, let me introduce the rest of my family,” Lena cut in.  Jude mostly zoned out for this part, though he paid enough attention to learn that the woman on the left edge of the screen was Cory’s wife, Topanga, and the boy on the right was their son Auggie.

 

“So Cory, I have some concerns about sleeping arrangements and such,” Stef chimed in for the first time after introductions were finished.  Jude groaned; leave it to his mom, the rule maker and disciplinarian, to worry about that first and foremost when they were spending a week in _New York._

 

“For the last time mom, you can stop worrying about that?  Connor and I aren’t going to do anything!” Jude whined, mortified that his mom would even consider talking about this right in front of two other kids their age.

 

“Love, it’s not that we don’t trust you, we just don’t trust your hormones,” Stef justified her statement.

 

“Mom!” Jude yelped as his mom said something even more embarrassing, burying his head into Connor’s shoulder that no one could see him blushing.

 

“If you’re that concerned about the two of them ‘getting into trouble’, we can always set it up for them to sleep in different rooms,” Topanga suggested, also speaking for the first time.

 

“No!” Jude shouted, immediately bolting upright and beginning to hyperventilate.  He could do this, but if he was, he was not going to be separated from Connor in a strange place for even one second.

 

“Bubba, bubba, calm down,” Lena said calmly, softly rubbing Jude’s back while Connor squeezed his hand reassuringly.  “Are you sure you’re okay with doing this?”

 

“Yeah mama, I just—I just don’t want to be separated from Connor, okay?” Jude muttered, embarrassed by his sudden outburst.  He gave Lena a pleading look and she sighed.

 

“Honey, how about just for this trip, we let them sleep in the same room?” Lena conceded, looking at her wife, communicating to her with more than just her words.  “Jude feels a little uncomfortable about being in a strange place and I think he’s going to need Connor with him.”

 

“Okay.  Never mind about that then,” Stef said, letting the matter drop.

 

“Alright, well is there anything else we need to discuss?” Cory asked.  Lena pondered for a second and then shook her head.

 

“No Cory, I think this was mostly about introductions and we’ve covered that.  I guess the only thing left is that Jude and Connor’s flight is leaving tomorrow at 6:30 AM.  You should have the flight number to track when they’ll be landing.”

 

“Yep,” Cory nodded.  “And I’m also sure you and I will be talking some time during this week.”

 

“Yeah, I would expect that.  See you tomorrow Riley and Maya,” Lena waved.

 

“And we’ll see you Jude and Connor tomorrow too,” Topanga added.  After that, they all said their goodbyes and then hung up.

 

“Bud, are you really certain you can do this?” Lena turned on him as soon as the call was disconnected.

 

“Yes mama, I’m not a baby, I can handle this!”

 

“Okay,” Lena answered coolly.  “Then you need to finish packing and then you and Connor should get some sleep.”

 

“What about my stuff?” Connor questioned, since he hadn’t been home to pack anything at all.

 

“Your father dropped off a suitcase for you while you were upstairs with Jude earlier.”

 

Connor nodded, and then led Jude upstairs to his room.

 

“What’s all this about?” Connor said after giving Jude a few minutes to calm down and pack, deciding to confront Jude about his strange outburst.

 

“I—I don’t know,” Jude shrugged, collapsing on the bed.  “I guess I’m just scared about being that far away from my family for the first time.  And you always make me less scared of everything so I—I just want you to always be around while we’re there,” he continued, nervously fiddling with his hands as he spoke.

 

“Like I was really going to leave your side at any point,” Connor chuckled, settling down next to his boyfriend and drawing his head into his chest while he adjusted their bodies so they were lying down on the bed.  “But other than being nervous about leaving, are you excited about this?”

 

“Yeah,” Jude grinned.  “A whole week in New York with my boyfriend.  Sounds kinda romantic doesn’t it?”

 

“It would be if we weren’t still going to be in school all week,” Connor giggled, distractedly playing with Jude’s hair.

 

“But it’s still a new place.  A new school with—” Jude excited tone fell away almost immediately at his sudden realization.  “With people we don’t know.  How are we going to deal with being boyfriends in New York around people we don’t know?”

 

“In school, we won’t care just like we do here,” Connor answered.  “Outside of school, we’ll just have to play it by ear.”

 

“Okay,” Jude yawned, but sounding unconvinced by Connor’s solution.  “I think I’m going to finish packing in the morning,” he continued yawning, squeezing his eyes shut and burying his head into the crook of Connor’s neck.

 

“I love you babe,” Connor cooed.  “Sleep tight.”

 

“I love you too,” Jude whispered.

 

* * *

 

 

Morning came far too early for the two of them.  Jude had to practically roll Connor out of bed and onto the floor (no easy feat since Connor was so much bigger than Jude) once he had finished packing.  They half sleepwalked into the airport.

 

“You boys behave for Mr. Matthews, okay?” Lena warned sternly as they walked to get in line for security.  “And remember you’re representing all of Anchor Beach, so do us all proud.”

 

“We will mama,” Jude responded, stifling a yawn.

 

“And don’t forget to have fun,” Stef added, hugging both boys tightly.

 

“We’ll try mom,” Jude answered.

 

“Okay bubba,” Lena smiled.  “Looks like you two are up.  We love you both!”

 

“Love you too moms.  I’ll miss you guys a lot,” Jude sniffled. 

 

“We’ll miss you too love,” Stef replied, holding him tighter for a moment.

 

“Bye,” Jude waved as Connor pulled him into the security checkpoint and out of sight from his moms.

 

“You gonna be okay?” Connor asked, pulling Jude into a hug of his own.

 

“Yeah, I’ll be alright, I just need a minute,” Jude said quietly.

 

“They’ll be right there when we get back Jude, I promise,” Connor cooed softly.  Jude simply nodded into his shoulder.

 

* * *

 

 

Their flight was uneventful; they spent most of it asleep on each other’s shoulder.  When they both trudged off the plane and into the passenger terminal, they were met by the Matthews and Maya.

 

“Welcome to New York!” Riley shouted.

 

“It’s been waiting for you,” Connor sleepily muttered in Jude’s ear.

 

“You dork,” Jude giggled.  “What are you two still doing here?” Jude continued, mumbling, his voice still thick with sleep.

 

“We wanted to meet you in person before we left!” Riley exclaimed, her attitude already proving far too chipper for Jude’s current state of awakeness.

 

“She wanted to meet you, I don’t care,” Maya said flatly.

 

“Well hi,” Jude murmured.  Jude glanced around, curious that Connor hadn’t said a word yet to either of the girls yet.  He found Connor’s head resting on his shoulder (how Jude didn’t notice him there at first, he didn’t know; probably because he was really tired), eyes shut.  “Connor!” Jude said sharply and Connor jolted, confirming Jude’s suspicious that he fell asleep on his shoulder, standing up.

 

“Hi Connor,” Riley said in the same dreamy voice she did the night before.

 

“Hey Riles, guess what?” Maya inquired.

 

“What Maya?” Riley replied innocently.

 

“They’re still boyfriends,” Maya said, snapping her fingers in front of Riley’s face.

 

“I know, but he’s just so pretty to look at,” Riley sighed, tilting her head to the side as she kept looking at Connor (who wasn’t paying any attention to her at all).

 

“Anyway,” Cory interrupted, his eyes going wide.  “Riley, isn’t it time for your flight I think it’s time for your flight okay let’s say goodbye so you can go make your flight,” he said in a rush.  Topanga stood next to him, laughing softly and shaking her head.

 

Riley and Maya boarded their flight, and Jude and Connor left with Cory and Topanga (well and Auggie too) to begin their week in New York.  And by begin, I mean they began by sleeping for the entirety of Sunday away in Riley’s room.


	2. Day 1: Monday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we finally meet Lucas and Farkle :) I hope I got their characterizations right...I'm not sure because I've never written them before but if I didn't quite get it, then I claim artistic license lol. But anyway, introducing Lucas and Farkle means that things are going to start getting interesting. Keep in mind though that I'm keeping the story from Jude and Connor's perspective, so you won't know what's going on in either Lucas' or Farkle's heads, just how Jude and Connor interpret the events unfolding in front of them. Enjoy! :D

Monday morning, Jude and Connor sat in the bay window, waiting for Cory to take them to school for the day.  Jude had his head on Connor’s shoulder and had it not been for the matter they were discussing, he could’ve easily drifted off back to sleep.  He was still feeling pretty jetlagged.

 

“Do you think we’ll be okay if we act like normal at school?” Jude asked anxiously as he yawned.  John Quincy Adams wasn’t Anchor Beach and New York wasn’t California, so Jude had no idea what to expect and that unknown made him very nervous.

 

“Yeah, I think so,” Connor replied calmly, placing his hand on top of Jude’s, running his thumb gently across the back of Jude’s hand.  “And if we have any problems, I’m sure Mr. Matthews can help us.”

 

“I know, but Connor, I’m just thinking—maybe we should be discrete about it for today.  I think it might be a good idea to get a feel for the people we’re going to be around first,” Jude pleaded.  He knew Connor was going to hate doing this.  Connor never liked being discrete (or in the closet or whatever you wanted to call it; basically he didn’t want to be anything less than being open about their relationship status to anyone who happened to be nearby), but Jude really didn’t feel comfortable just walking into a new place and acting like boyfriends.  The last thing he wanted was to walk in unaware of what everyone thought of them and end up spending the week getting verbally (and possibly physically) abused by the other students.

 

“Okay,” Connor replied hesitantly.  “Just as long as we aren’t going to spend the whole week in the closet.”

 

“I promise we wo—”

 

“Hello ladies,” a voice came floating through the window interrupting him, and Jude shrieked, scrambling over Connor so that he was a shield in between him and the source of the words.  Why was someone outside the window, talking to them?

 

“Oh I’m so sorry about that I didn’t mean to scare you you’re obviously not Riley and Maya,” the boy said rapidly, his cheeks beginning to darken.

 

“G-gee, whatever gave you that idea?” Jude stammered, his sarcasm still sharp despite the fact his heart was racing at one hundred miles per hour.  “Was it the fact that we’re both boys and not ladies at all?  Or is it because we look nothing like them?”

 

Just then the door to the room opened.

 

“Who is this?” Jude blurted out as soon as Cory entered the room, having come down when he heard Jude’s scream.

 

“Oh him?” Cory chuckled as the boy crawled in through the window.  “That’s Farkle.”

 

“Farkle?  What are you talking about?  I meant I want to know what his name is,” Jude pressed, pointing at the boy.

 

“I am Farkle!” the boy loudly announced as he bowed.  He now stood in front of Jude and Connor, slightly off to the side.  Jude observed him for a moment.  Farkle was slight in stature, with long, light brown hair swept over his forehead that fell just short of his bright blue eyes.

 

“So Farkle’s your name?” Jude asked incredulously.

 

Farkle nodded.

 

“And I thought Jude was bad,” Jude muttered, shaking his head.

 

“Anyway, Farkle, this is Jude and Connor.  Can you help them get to school?  Sorry boys, I would take you but I’ve got something important to do on my way.”

 

“Yes Mr. Matthews,” Farkle answered.

 

“Okay good.  See you all at school,” Cory said hurriedly, rushing out of the room.

 

“Seriously, your name is Farkle?” Connor gaped.

 

“Yes indeed!” Farkle answered proudly.  “Now come on!  We wouldn’t want to be late!” he continued, crawling out the window and motioning for Jude and Connor to follow him.

 

“Oh no, I am _not_ climbing out the window,” Jude protested.  “Why don’t we just use the front door?”

 

“Because we always use the window,” Farkle shrugged.

 

“Let’s just do it Jude,” Connor whispered.  “I’ll go first and I promise I won’t let you fall.”

 

“You better not,” Jude retorted anxiously.  “It’ll be your head if you do.”

 

Eventually they made it down the fire escape without incident and Farkle led them to the subway station where they now stood, waiting for one of the trains to stop at the platform.  Jude and Connor stood as close to each other as they could manage, but they didn’t hold hands, settling instead for brushing their hands up against each other every few seconds.

 

While they were waiting, another boy walked up to them.  He was tall, athletically-built (though not quite as stout as Connor), with brown hair that was an inch or so shorter than Farkle’s and light blue eyes.  He was cute, and if it wasn’t for Connor, Jude was pretty sure he’d have been smitten with the guy.

 

“Hey Farkle,” he said as he slung an arm around Farkle’s shoulder, his voice showing a hint of a southern twang.  Inwardly, Jude groaned; he was probably from the south, which likely didn’t bode well of how he’d feel about his and Connor’s relationship.  “Where’s Riley and Maya?” the boy asked, glancing around the platform in search of the two missing girls.

 

“I don’t know where Riley and Maya are Mr. Matthews left before I could ask him,” Farkle said rapidly.  Jude struggled to catch what he was saying; he could’ve sworn he’d never heard someone talk faster than Farkle did.  “He just asked me to take Jude and Connor to school.”

 

“Jude and Connor?” the other boy spoke, furrowing his eyebrows.  Farkle jerked his thumb, pointing in their direction.

 

“I’m Connor, that’s Jude,” Connor said, introducing both of them for Jude.

 

“Hi, I’m Lucas,” the other boy responded.

 

“Hi,” Jude and Connor mumbled.

 

Before they got any farther into their introductions, a train pulled up and Farkle motioned for them to get on.  Jude sat down next to Connor, across from Lucas and Farkle, and began looking around the train car, his head on a swivel.  With each sweep, he inched closer to Connor, checking the reaction of the people around him, scooting just a little bit more when he didn’t see any frowns or glares.  Nobody seemed to care, expect for Lucas and Farkle.  Farkle was studying him and his actions intently, almost like he was trying to guess the meaning to Jude’s actions, and Lucas met his eyes and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.  Jude shrugged and settled down, deciding to stay where he was until they reached their stop.

 

He hated every second of this; sure it was better than not being with Connor at all, but Jude had gotten so used to always having Connor’s hand in his, or Connor’s arm around his shoulder, or putting his head on Connor’s shoulder.  Normal displays of affection.  Jude didn’t feel safe doing that at all here and he despised both that society didn’t make him feel safe and his own timidity.

 

Before he could delve any further into his self-loathing, he was being waved off the train and led into John Quincy Adams Middle School.  In the hallway, he and Connor split from Lucas and Farkle, heading for the main office to get assigned their lockers for the week.  They dropped all their things off and then went to their classroom for the week.  When they made it to there, everyone was already seated, leaving two desks open at the very front and center of the room.

 

Jude scowled; he hated being in the front of the classroom.  It made him feel like everyone was watching him and judging him.  Especially since he was going to have to sit in front of Farkle.  The boy just wouldn’t stop watching him, like he was trying to find out Jude’s every secret (to be fair, Jude did have a pretty big secret he was “hiding”).  Though oddly, Farkle’s desk wasn’t directly behind his, lined up with all the others.  It was slid over closer to the desk on Farkle’s left, where Lucas sat.

 

The bell rang and Jude took his seat as Mr. Matthews walked into the classroom.  Behind him, Jude could hear Farkle’s desk wobble and clack against the floor as his hand violently shot up in the air.

 

“Yes Farkle?” Mr. Matthews acknowledged.

 

“Where are Riley and Maya?”

 

Mr. Matthews smiled.

 

“Riley and Maya are in San Diego for the week, going to um—” Mr. Matthews paused, snapping his fingers as he looked at Jude and Connor.

 

“Anchor Beach,” they replied in unison.

 

“Yes, Anchor Beach.  We’re doing a student exchange with them, so in Riley and Maya’s place, this week we have Jude and Connor with us,” Mr. Matthews finished.

 

“Wait, so this means I get whole week where Maya isn’t calling me Huckleberry or Ranger Rick or doing the ‘hurr-hurr’ thing in my face?” Lucas asked hopefully.

 

“Absolutely Ranger Rick,” Jude shot back jokingly, watching as the boy’s face quickly fell.

 

“So instead, you’re getting a heavy dose of Judicorn sass for the week,” Connor giggled.

 

“Oh my God Connor, I swear I’m going to kill you,” Jude growled.

 

“Suddenly, I don’t feel so bad about Ranger Rick,” Lucas chuckled.

 

“Anyway,” Mr. Matthews cut in.  “I’d like for you all to make Jude and Connor feel welcome and like they’re part of the school.”

 

After that, Jude didn’t really pay attention.  In general, the classroom was a stark contrast to their classes at Anchor Beach; it appeared Mr. Matthews wasn’t one much for order, letting students (mostly Farkle) interrupt him without raising their hand and allowing the class to be taken off topic quite easily.  Jude couldn’t follow what was going on (whenever he tried to pay attention that is) and kept shooting Connor confused looks, which Connor only returned with shrugs and similarly confused expressions.

 

They survived the day without too much trouble though, and when class was over, Lucas approached them on their way out of the room.

 

“Hey, do you want to come with me and Farkle to Topanga’s?” he inquired.

 

“That—that’s where we’re staying, isn’t it?” Jude answered, raising an eyebrow in confusion.  Confusion seemed to be the reigning state of the day.  Lucas laughed as Farkle walked up behind him.

 

“No, Topanga’s is a bakery that we always hang out at after school,” Lucas explained.

 

“But I thought she was—” Connor continued along, matching Jude’s thought process.

 

“She is, but she also runs the place,” Farkle added.  “Mrs. Svorski gave it to her when she died.”

 

“Oh well then, um sure,” Jude shrugged, glancing back at Connor who stood just behind him.  It’s not like they had anything to do otherwise.

 

“Okay great!” Lucas beamed.  “Let’s go,” he continued, throwing an arm around Farkle’s shoulders as they headed out of the school.  Connor followed suit and did the same (though Jude obviously knew there was a different meaning behind Connor’s gesture).

 

“So you’re both from California?” Lucas remarked, making conversation as they walked.

 

“Well Jude is,” Connor answered.  “I’m actually from Arizona originally but I’ve been in San Diego since I was four.”

 

“What’s San Diego like?” Lucas inquired.

 

“Hot,” Jude responded.  “At least, in comparison to here,” he continued, shivering slightly.  It was 73° in New York, but compared to San Diego’s average highs for the time of the year being in the upper 80’s and low 90’s, it was cold for Jude.

 

“I know what you mean,” Lucas chortled, noticing Jude’s shuddering.  “It was the same for me when I moved here from Texas.”

 

“Where are you from Farkle?” Connor asked politely, trying to involve him since he hadn’t said a word yet.

 

“Here,” Farkle said, giving his answer quickly as they walked inside the bakery.

 

“Oh, so then you’re used to this,” Connor remarked, taking a seat on the couch with Jude so that their backs were to the front of the shop.  Almost involuntarily, Jude put his head on Connor’s shoulder and Farkle’s eyes went wide.  Before he could say anything, another boy walked up and joined them.

 

“I don’t think we’ve met you yet,” Jude said, squinting at the boy and ignoring Farkle, who looked like he was about to burst.

 

“I don’t think we have, though I know you guys since I’m in your class,” he replied.  “I’m Isaiah, but you can call me Zay.”

 

“You two have been really physically close and acting weird all day why are you guys so close and acting so weird?” Farkle blurted out rapidly once Zay finished his introduction.

 

“Well I’m not sure how being close has to do with anything,” Jude retorted.  “You and Lucas have been almost as close to each other all day as we have.”  Jude would’ve thought it impossible, but Farkle’s eyes got wider at his comment.

 

“Okay, but that doesn’t explain everything else,” Lucas drawled.  “I’ve noticed that y’all were acting weird too.”

 

“It’s just that—that I’m not sure how open Connor and I should be.  We don’t know if we can count you guys as friends yet,” Jude admitted, sliding his palm into Connor’s sight and weaving their fingers together between their legs and out of sight.

 

“Of course you can count us as friends,” Lucas replied as if Jude had made the most ridiculous statement in the history of the world.

 

“Should we tell them then?” Jude whispered in Connor’s ear.

 

“We kinda have to now,” Connor shrugged.  “We should probably find out if they’re worth hanging out with anyway.”

 

“Okay.  What’s going on is that Connor and I are dating,” Jude announced to the group, biting his lip as he watched the other three boys process the information.

 

“You mean like boyfriend/girlfriend dating?” Farkle questioned.

 

“Yeah,” Jude said quietly.

 

“Yo man, that’s gross,” Zay interjected.  In almost a cartoonish way, Lucas’ head whipped around to face him as soon as the words exited his mouth.

 

“What the hell Zay?” Lucas exclaimed, responding immediately.

 

“Two guys shouldn’t be together like boys and girls.  It’s weird,” Zay defended.

 

“No it’s not!” Lucas protested.  “Why would you even think that, two guys can be together just like any other couple!  It’s 2015 for heaven’s sake Zay!  I mean, what would you say if—”

 

“Lucas, calm down,” Jude pleaded, cutting him off before he could say anything more.  The stuff that Zay was saying wasn’t even that bad; they’d heard much worse whispered as they walked down the hallways at Anchor Beach.  And “what would you say if” was a bad thing for Lucas to be starting off on.  There was a good chance, that in his rage, he might say something he was going to regret.

 

“So what, you’re saying that you’re okay with him saying things like that about you?” Lucas stood up, practically shouting at them as his face went red with anger.

 

“No, we’re not,” Connor said firmly.  “But we’re pretty secure in our relationship now that it doesn’t bother us like it used to, and we’ve found that going after people for what they say just makes it worse.”

 

“Yeah that’s right—” Zay began.

 

“Shut up and get out of here!” Lucas yelled over him.

 

“Whatever man,” Zay replied, throwing his hands up in mock surrender.  “But this isn’t over yet,” he added, shooting daggers at them as he walked out of the shop.

 

“Next time, just let it go,” Jude scolded Lucas once Zay was gone.

 

“How does that not bother you?” Lucas huffed.  “It would definitely bother me!”

 

“When you hear stuff like that enough times, it loses its sting,” Connor shrugged.

 

“Wait, you guys hear that all the time?”

 

“Yeah,” Jude said unconcernedly.

 

“That’s—that’s awful,” Lucas stuttered, color draining from his face.  “I uh—I’m sorry, I have to go.  See you tomorrow,” he said, patting Farkle on the shoulder and hurrying out.

 

“Lucas feels like he has to protect his friends at all costs,” Farkle said as soon as Lucas was out of earshot.  “That’s why he got so upset about what Zay said.  You should’ve seen the time he found out someone was bullying me.  I swear he was going to beat the guy up!”

 

Jude glanced at Connor and Jude gave him a look that said he didn’t believe that Farkle’s explanation was the source of Lucas’ reaction.

 

“We’ll have to tell him thanks when we see him tomorrow,” Jude suggested to Connor, giving him a knowing look to hint to him that they were going to talk about it later, when they were alone.

* * *

 

“You don’t believe what Farkle said about Lucas being protective of his friends?” Connor asked almost the second they entered Riley’s room, sitting down in the bay window.

 

“No, I do it’s just—” Jude paused, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair.  “There was something about the way he was talking that made me think he might have felt personally offended by Zay’s comments.  You did hear that he was starting to go off on the ‘what would you say if’ tangent, right?”

 

“Not really,” Connor conceded.

 

“Well he did,” Jude explained.  “That’s why I interrupted him.  I didn’t want him to say anything he wasn’t ready for or might regret.”

 

“Wait, so you think Lucas might be gay?”

 

“No,” Jude answered.  “Well maybe.  I think it might be a possibility.”

 

“Guys like Lucas normally aren’t gay,” Connor shrugged.

 

“You’re a guy like Lucas and you turned out to be gay,” Jude countered.

 

“I know Jude, but I’m an exception,” Connor said, shaking his head.  “I’m not the rule.”

 

“Maybe, but you’re still judging Lucas off of stereotypes,” Jude argued.

 

“Whatever,” Connor replied.  “No matter what, it’s not our business to get involved.  We just met Lucas today; we don’t know him at all.”

 

Jude never got a chance to protest because his phone went off, indicating a Skype call.

 

“It’s probably moms,” Jude commented, rolling his eyes as he answered the call.  Jude was surprised to see two girls pop up on the screen that were not his moms.

 

“Hi!” Riley chirped.

 

“Hey,” both Jude and Connor answered flatly, leaning their heads together.  They were both very tired (jetlag was really a bitch to them both, even after a full two days).

 

“Making use of the bay window I see,” Maya remarked.  “Whatcha talking about?”

 

“Trying to figure out what to make of Lucas and Farkle,” Jude answered before Connor could stop him.

 

“They’re pretty interesting characters huh?” Maya chortled.

 

“Yeah, they really are,” Jude remarked.  “Farkle nearly gave me a heart attack this morning when he showed up outside the window.”

 

“Probably should’ve warned you about that,” Riley grimaced briefly.

 

“Ya think?” Jude sassed.

 

“Lucas and Farkle are really great guys though,” Maya said.  “And if you ever tell them I said that I’m going to kill you.”

 

“Yeah, they seem like they are,” Connor responded.

 

“They seem pretty close too,” Jude said slyly, yelping when Connor pinched him on the arm.

 

“Something wrong?” Riley asked, looking at Jude concernedly.

 

“No, no, nothing at all,” Connor quickly answered.  “We’re staying out of it, remember?” Connor added, whispering in Jude’s ear.

 

“Well, Lucas and Farkle have been best friends ever since Lucas first came here from Texas a year ago,” Riley continued on, explaining it to Jude.

 

“That’s actually about how long I’ve known Connor,” Jude mused.  “It’s been almost a year since I started at Anchor Beach.”

 

“A year since you stood in front of the class with that awful bowl haircut,” Connor giggled.

 

“Oh shut up,” Jude mumbled.

 

“Hey, you still looked cute!” Connor clarified, snaking his arms around Jude’s waist.

 

“So you’ve been dating since then?” Maya questioned.

 

“No,” Jude said simply.

 

“It’s kind of a complicated story,” Connor revealed.

 

“We have some time,” Riley suggested.

 

So they launched into telling the story.  From Connor’s dad, to Daria, Connor getting shot in the foot and finally, what happened outside Connor’s hospital room.

 

“It’s so beautiful!” Riley exclaimed when they finished.

 

“Girls, it’s dinner time!” Jude heard his mama yell in the background of the call.

 

“Well we should probably let you two go then,” Jude chuckled.

 

“Sure, we’ll talk to you tomorrow.  Bye,” Riley replied and hung up.

 

“We should probably go to bed, it’s getting late,” Jude commented, looking at his phone once the call was finished.

 

“Okay,” Connor answered with a yawn.  Jude giggled at him.

 

“Yeah, it’s definitely too late for Con,” he teased.  Connor nodded and yawned again, so they both changed into clothes for sleeping and jumped into bed, cuddling up to each other and falling asleep quickly.

 

“I love you,” Jude whispered just before he drifted off.

 

“I love you too Jude.”


	3. Day 2: Tuesday - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to start by apologizing for the drastic drop off in my rate of updates. I took a few days off as break, and then once I was done with that, I started school which cut a lot of my time to write. I get in as much as I can, but there's only so much I can do during my free time between classes.
> 
> Anyway, so I originally intended to do a day per chapter, but this chapter just kept going and at the point where I ended this, I felt like I still had a lot to cover. So I'm going to break it up...part 2 of Day 2 might be a little shorter than this part and might not come for a while, but that's just the way it goes. I would like to preface the chapter by saying that my portrayal of Zay does not match my actual opinion of his character, but is merely what I needed him to be in order to create conflict and move the plot along. His character is not intended to be static either, so we'll see him grow as the story progresses into the later chapters. Anyway, enjoy this next installment! :)
> 
> Warning for homophobic language in a bullying context!

Their alarms went off the next morning far too early (though to be fair, any time before 10:00 was too early).  They blearily stumbled around the room, getting ready for the day before ending up in the bay window once again.

 

“I wonder what today will be like,” Jude mumbled, snaking his arms around Connor’s torso and resting his head on Connor’s shoulder.

 

“I honestly don’t know,” Connor answered, laying his head on top of Jude’s as he put an arm around Jude’s shoulder.

 

“What do you think Zay meant when he said it wasn’t over?” Jude asked, his voice sounding quite clearly tense.

 

“There’s really no way of knowing,” Connor sighed, soothingly rubbing his hand up and down Jude’s arm.  “But I’m pretty sure it was just an empty threat.”

 

“But what if it wasn’t?” Jude replied anxiously.

 

“Then we’ll deal with it when we have to,” Connor said calmly, trying his best to calm Jude’s anxiety.

 

“It’s just—when we’re at Anchor Beach, we know Taylor and Daria have our backs, but at John Quincy Adams, there really isn’t anyone that we can trust if things really go south,” Jude explained.

 

“And that is where you’re wrong.”

 

“What the hell?” Jude exclaimed, digging in tighter to Connor’s side in a futile attempt to get further away from the voice.  “Doesn’t anyone ever use the front door?”

 

“Not really,” Lucas shrugged, climbing in through the window, settling down next to Jude.

 

“The only times we’ve ever used the front door was when Lucas came over to ask Riley out and then when we came over for family game night,” Farkle added quickly, moving around to sit down by Connor.  At mention of "asking Riley out," Connor gave Jude a knowing look that Jude promptly ignored.

  

“Don’t Riley and Maya get freaked out at all by the people just coming through their window without warning?” Jude questioned, still breathing heavily from the initial shock of the other boys’ sudden appearance. Both boys just shrugged. “That's honestly a little crazy.  It would drive me nuts. Anyway, what am I wrong about?”

 

“That nobody has your back at our school,” Lucas clarified.

 

“Yeah, we have your back!” Farkle added enthusiastically.

 

“There isn’t anyone at school that I can’t take,” Lucas continued menacingly.

 

“And there isn't anyone Lucas and I couldn't handle together.  See Jude, it’s going to be fine,” Connor said quietly, gently pressing a kiss into the top of Jude’s head.

 

“Just as long as neither of you go overboard,” Jude declared, gazing straight at Lucas as he spoke.  After Lucas nearly went ballistic over something small yesterday, Jude was concerned that Lucas, if anyone, might lose it.

 

“Oh don’t worry about me, I don’t think I could punch anyone,” Farkle assured Jude, humorously missing Jude's look, and therefore, the point to his statement. 

 

“I don’t think Jude couldn’t either,” Connor chuckled, giving Jude a slight squeeze as he played along with Farkle.

 

“It’s not me or Farkle that I’m worried about,” Jude said lowly, breaking eye contact with Lucas to look back and forth between him and Connor. Connor was never great at keeping his cool when it came to protecting him, and after Lucas’ explosion yesterday, Jude was greatly concerned that one (or both) of them could completely lose it Zay or someone else said the wrong thing.  “You two need to stay calm.”

 

“I promise I will babe,” Connor answered, his tone suggesting that he would try, but that he really wasn’t promising Jude anything, which Jude expected and was okay with.  Connor was his boyfriend; if someone was harassing him, Connor had every right to go off on them. Lucas on the other hand—

 

“Lucas?” Jude inquired, turning towards Lucas.

 

“But—” Lucas started to protest before Jude narrowed his eyes on him. “Yeah I will,” Lucas begrudgingly agreed.

* * *

 Jude strolled into school with his hand in Connor’s, head held high while still being on a swivel, Lucas and Farkle flanking them on either side. Connor was perfectly relaxed, and Jude tried to absorb as much of that relaxing energy as possible, but it was difficult to do with Lucas radiating so much tension while walking right next to him. Jude wanted to calm down; it was almost time for class, none of them had spotted Zay yet, and no one else was saying anything.  They were pretty much in the clear.

 

“What’s got you so uptight?” Jude questioned Lucas, softly enough that Connor hopefully wouldn’t be able to hear.

 

“Oh, it’s nothing.  I’m fine,” Lucas replied tersely, answering with his voice at normal volume. Connor squeezed Jude’s hand, not very hard, but firmly enough to get his message across: _leave it alone_.  Jude glanced over at Farkle, who seemed just as unconvinced with Lucas’ answer as him, but by this point, they had reached class. Connor held Jude back before he could walk inside.

 

“Jude, you really can’t go digging to find out what’s going on,” Connor muttered sternly.

 

“Connor, take a look at Farkle,” Jude argued, quirking his head back towards the classroom.  Connor glanced over Jude’s shoulder at the boy, whose were eyebrows furrowed as he watched Lucas. “He seems just as confused as I am,” Jude continued when Connor was looking at him again.  “This isn’t normal for Lucas and it’s because of what happened yesterday, something that _we_ had a hand in.”

 

“You’re assuming a lot Jude,” Connor sighed heavily.

 

Just then, Mr. Matthews walked past them into the classroom, cutting their conversation short as they scurried to get into their seats before class started.

 

Zay eventually showed up, strolling in late and throwing daggers at the four of them with his eyes.  Jude returned the gesture with one of his own, his patented bitch face. Lucas and Connor set their jaws, staring straight ahead and making no acknowledgment of Zay’s appearance. Farkle was oblivious, already immersed in the lesson that Mr. Matthews was teaching.

 

Zay didn’t say anything; he was smart enough to know not to make any nasty comments with Mr. Matthews right there to hear them.  But Jude figured that, most likely, later on, he would say whatever he wanted.

* * *

As much as Jude hated to be, he was right.  He and Connor had entered the lunchroom on their own, before either Farkle or Lucas had made it.  They sat down at the same table they had lunch at the day before and began eating their lunch, minding their own business when Zay came up and sat down in front of them.  Neither Jude nor Connor made any move to recognize that he had taken a seat across from them. Jude hoped that if they ignored him, he would go away.  But his hope was in vain, because he had barely sat down when he started talking to them.

 

“I’m sorry, you can’t sit here.  This is a queer-free table,” Zay sneered.

 

“Oh my bad, I must have missed the sign,” Jude sassed, displaying his razor-sharp wit while not even looking up from his sandwich.

 

“What is it with fags thinking they have the right to sass everyone out,” Zay lamented bitterly.  Connor tensed up, jerking forward in his seat, and Jude reached out, putting a hand on his bicep. Connor reluctantly slumped back, fuming silently.  This was different than anything they’d encountered before.  It was one thing to catch the whispers as they passed by; it was a whole other thing to have hateful language thrown right in their faces. “Such a pussy, letting your precious, scrawny little boyfriend hold you back from—”

 

“What the hell is your problem Zay?” Lucas spat, practically sprinting up to the table.

 

“I want to ask you the same question,” Zay retorted, standing so he and Lucas were face to face.  “I thought you were raised better than to defend disgusting people like them.”

 

“Don’t you dare try and tell me that you were raised like this or that your parents would be okay with this!” Lucas countered.  “I sure as hell know that I’d get my ass whooped by mine if ever said things like that!”

 

“You say that, and yet you seemed to have no problem bullying other gay kids back in Texas,” Zay replied snidely.

 

“Yeah well, I’ve changed and grown.  I did a lot of things back in Texas that weren’t right.  Things that I refuse to do anymore,” Lucas growled.

 

“What, you think by protecting them you’ll get some kind of atonement? Cause let me tell you something Lucas: nothing you can do will _ever_ get that blood off your hands.”

 

By now the entire cafeteria had gone silent, intently watching the confrontation between the two boys.

 

“Don’t you dare try and tell me that it was my fault!  I tried to stop him!” Lucas roared, grabbing Zay by the shoulders and walking him into the wall behind them.  Jude poked Connor, desperately urging him to intervene. “I told him I would stop bullying him! I told him I would protect him from you! Hell, I even came out to him to stop him from going through with it!  I did everything I could Zay, _you_ are the one with blood on your hands!”

 

“Did you just say that you’re a faggot like the two of them?” Zay questioned, his tone full of disgust.

 

“So what if I am?” Lucas screamed, roughly shoving Zay against the hard brick. That got Connor’s attention, and he sprung to his feet, making his way over to break the two of them up. “You gonna try and bully me too? Cause if you do, I swear to God I will make you wish you never knew me.”

 

“Lucas,” Connor said calmly, placing a hand on his shoulder. Lucas whipped around to face him, lowering his hands off of Zay, breathing heavily as his eyes bulged out of his head, his entire face blazing red and rage burning behind his retinas. “Lucas, he’s not worth it.”

 

“Yeah, that’s right, listen to your nasty abomination of a friend,” Zay taunted. Connor was prepared, quickly locking his arms around Lucas’ arms, holding him back from landing a blow while Zay darted out of the cafeteria.  For all his strength, Connor was holding on for dear life, barely able to keep his footing to so that Lucas didn’t drag him along.  Once Lucas calmed down, he slumped his shoulders and head, letting Connor lead him back to the table where Jude sat, his mouth hanging open. The lunchroom was still dead silent, every eye on Lucas as he sat down.

 

“Why is everyone looking at me?” Lucas whispered, having noticed all the stares once his adrenaline rush subsided and he finally regained control of his senses.

 

“You uh—you kinda just told the entire cafeteria that you’re gay,” Connor explained gently, since Jude couldn’t answer as his mouth hung open in astonishment.

 

“I what?” Lucas squeaked, all the color draining from his face at Connor’s words.

 

“Hey-guys, what’s-up, why-is-everyone-so-quiet?” Farkle spouted rapidly as he sat down, apparently (as best Connor could tell) unnerved by the eerie silence hanging over the room.

 

“O-oh it’s uh n-nothing,” Lucas stuttered, clumsily rising from his chair. “I-I’ll be right b-back.”

 

“That was odd.  What’s going on with Lucas?” Farkle frowned, gazing off in the direction that Lucas had disappeared.

 

“I’m not really sure,” Connor replied.  “But I’m uh—I’m going to find out.”

 

“Wait, I thought we weren’t going to do any digging,” Jude interjected, having finally snapped out of his shock-induced trance.

 

“We’re definitely in the middle of this now, whether we want to be or not. And being a part of this means we _need_ to do some digging,” Connor sighed, rising up and turning back to Farkle.  “Where’s the most likely place Lucas would be hiding?”

 

“Harley’s janitor closet,” Farkle answered.  “But I don’t see why—”

 

Connor didn’t hear the rest of what he said, having already sprinted off to find Lucas.  Upon finding the closet Farkle had mentioned, Connor stopped, took a moment to collect himself, and then knocked gently.  Receiving no reply, Connor knocked a little harder.  After a few seconds, the door swung open slightly.

 

“What do you—” Lucas growled sharply before he saw that it was Connor. “Oh, it’s you.”

 

“Can I come in?”

 

“Sure, I guess.”

 

Connor stepped into the small room, stuffed to the brim with cleaning supplies, save for the desk in the corner where Lucas sat, his knees drawn into his chest as he perched himself on the top of the desk.  Connor cautiously approached it, speaking softly.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Not really,” Lucas sniffled, glancing up at Connor through eyes already red and bloodshot from crying.

 

“I know that feeling.  I remember just having immediate, overwhelming regret when I came out to my dad by accident,” Connor shared, trying to give Lucas some comfort as he found an empty space on the wall to lean up against.

 

“It’s not regret so much as terror,” Lucas corrected, his voice wavering and unsteady.

 

“Yeah there was a lot of that too.  I’m guessing you’re not ready to be out?” Connor asked. Lucas nodded grimly. “I get that feeling, I really do, but you don’t have a choice now.  The really sucky thing is that you kinda opened a Pandora’s box; there isn’t an option to go back now.”

 

“So—so what happens?”

 

“You go on like normal,” Connor shrugged.  “Nothing about you has changed.  People just know something more about you than they knew before.”

 

“B-but I feel like something _has_ changed,” Lucas responded, biting his lip nervously.

 

“I think that’ll pass after a few days.  At least, I know it did for me.  In the meantime, Jude and I are here and we’ll do our best to make it easier on you, and I’m sure F—”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Farkle exclaimed, bursting into the room.

 

“I’m sorry, I tried to give you more time,” Jude panted, appearing in the room a few seconds after Farkle, while Lucas was trying to stammer out a reply. He bent over, clutching his knees as he tried to catch his breath.  “He took off as soon as I told him what happened and well, Farkle was faster than I expected.”

 

“Well, you’re not exactly the fastest or most athletic runner babe,” Connor giggled, shuffling over and giving Jude a pat on the back as he turned his attention back to Lucas and now Farkle.

 

“I’m your best friend!  Why did I have to hear it from him,” Farkle pointed to Jude, “and not from you yourself?” Farkle demanded, Lucas’ answer to his first question apparently not satisfactory to Farkle.

 

“I was panicking!” Lucas countered, looking to be close to tears. “I never meant to come out in the first place and I didn’t know what to do.”

 

“It’s been a year!  We’ve been best friends for a year and you never thought that would be something I might want to know?” Farkle pressed, the volume of his voice steadily rising.

 

“I was afraid to lose you, alright?” Lucas mumbled, doing his best to avoid looking Farkle in the eye.  “I was scared of what you might say and I didn’t want to lose my best friend. That’s why I didn’t tell you.”

 

“You thought I was going to turn on you when you came out? I can’t believe you really think that little of me,” Farkle replied quietly, hurt lacing his tone as he turned and walked out of the closet.  Jude quickly turned to go after him.

 

“You gotta give him a break Farkle,” Jude appealed gently. “I promise he never meant it that way. When you’re in the closet, your perception of people tends to get colored by the worst-case scenarios instead of the reality of what their reaction would be.  Trust me, I know that from experience.”

 

“I trust you on that, but it still hurts me a lot.  I thought Lucas and I trusted each other with everything,” Farkle said weakly, tears gathering at the corner of his eyes.

 

“Honestly Farkle, have you told Lucas every secret you have?” Jude questioned, cocking his head and narrowing his gaze on Farkle.

 

“Well I—uh well, there’s a few I haven’t told him,” Farkle muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets.

 

“You really shouldn’t be getting upset then,” Jude stated matter-of-factly. “Sorry if I’m putting this too bluntly, but this has all been harder on Lucas than it could ever be on you. And right now, he needs his friends more than anyone else.  He just came out, and he’s going to need as much support from you as he can get.”

 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Farkle said, his shoulders slumped over as he made his way back to the closet where Lucas was.

 

“I might have been being a little over dramatic,” Farkle admitted, scuffling over to Lucas.

 

“Well, both you and Riley are pretty good at that,” Lucas chuckled.

 

“I tell her you said so,” Farkle retorted jokingly. They both laughed for a moment before an awkward silence fell over them for a moment.

 

“So are we okay?” Lucas asked timidly, looking up at Farkle hopefully.

 

“Yeah,” Farkle nodded.  “I’m sorry for reacting like that.”

 

“It’s alright,” Lucas shrugged, leaping to his feet and throwing an arm around Farkle’s shoulder, leading him out and leaving Jude and Connor alone in the closet.

 

“That was almost a disaster,” Jude commented, letting out the breath that he had been holding in.

 

“I probably should’ve listened to you huh?”

 

“No,” Jude replied simply, slinging his arm around Connor and leaning up against him while placing a quick peck on his cheek.  “If I had been wrong, it would’ve been really embarrassing for both of us.  You held me back from doing that, but you weren’t afraid to jump in when things started to go wrong, so that was the way it needed to be.  That’s what I love about us; we’re a perfect balance.”

 

“Wow, that’s probably the cheesiest/romantic thing I’ve ever heard you say Jude,” Connor laughed, squeezing Jude affectionately to his side.

 

“Don’t get used to it,” Jude quipped.

 

“Hey, how about while we’re in here alone—”

 

“As tempting as that is, the bell’s already rung for class,” Jude sighed, settling instead for a quick kiss on the lips before guiding his boyfriend out the door.


	4. Tuesday Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up...I was dealing with a pretty severe case of writer's block for this story. Anyway, I need to warn you all that there's pretty heavy mentions of suicide in this chapter (as it relates to something in Lucas' past). If suicide is triggering for you, please don't read the flashback in this chapter.
> 
> After this point, the story is on its upward swing...hope y'all are looking forward to that :)

Jude was lying with his head in Connor’s lap, still trying to process and wrap his head around everything that had happened that day.  Zay. Lucas.  Farkle.  A simple student exchange had turned into a complete mess, since Lucas’ friendship with Zay was almost not repairable now that Lucas had come out and Zay had established himself as the worst kind of homophobe.  Not to mention that despite their make-up just before classes started in the afternoon, something felt off between Lucas and Farkle the whole afternoon. Jude was well aware that this was his and Connor’s fault.  They had been inserted into what had been a stable ecosystem and their mere presence had torn the whole thing apart.  The only question that remained was how they were going to fix it.

 

Jude had barely opened his mouth to ask Connor that question when his Skype call tone went off. Jude reluctantly sat up and pulled his phone from his pocket, answering the call.

 

“Hey,” Jude mumbled tiredly, deciding to rest his head on Connor’s shoulder now, still lacking the strength to hold it up on his own.

 

“Long day huh?” Riley asked sympathetically as she surveyed the two boys.

 

“You don’t know the half of it,” Connor chuckled, gently resting his head on top of Jude’s.

 

“Okay what’s going on? Spill,” Riley replied. Maya rolled her eyes commanding tone present in Riley’s voice.  If something was wrong, Maya knew she was going to go out of her way to try and fix it. That was just the way Riley was. Never mind that they were almost 3,000 miles away from the source of the problem, and doing anything to fix it was likely going to be next to impossible.

 

“Well, let’s start with the fact that Zay is your textbook Texas homophobe,” Jude sighed.

 

“And because of that we found out that Lucas is—” Connor started to say before Jude shushed him.

 

“We shouldn’t be telling them that,” Jude whispered.  “We need to let Lucas tell them when he’s ready.”

 

“They know.”

 

Jude didn’t even jump this time, instead rolling his eyes and giving Lucas a gentle shove.

 

“You told them first?” Jude questioned, keeping his voice steady despite the fact that he was annoyed by yet another unannounced presence in the room.  This was what they always did, and Jude needed to bite his tongue and let it go.

 

“Yeah,” Lucas sighed, running a hand through his sandy brown hair.  “I told them a few months ago.  I just needed someone to talk to.  You know you can’t tell Farkle that I came out to them first though.”

 

“So—so I was the last to know?”

 

Jude and Connor turned to look at Farkle, who was standing just outside the window, but Lucas froze, tensing up as he realized that Farkle had heard what he said.

 

“Uhh, last to know what? There isn’t anything to know. What are you talking about Farkle?” Riley stammered over the phone, futilely trying to cover for Lucas.

 

“You know what, never mind. It’s pretty clear what’s going on and I’m sorry I came over here,” Farkle said coldly, turning and scrambling down the fire escape rapidly so that none of them would see him cry.

 

“Farkle wait!” Lucas yelled, twisting around and leaning out the window.  When it was obvious that the boy wasn’t going to stop or come back, Lucas turned around and slumped his shoulders, burying his face in his hands.

 

“You’re really just going to let him walk away?” Riley questioned.

 

“You gotta go after him Lucas,” Connor chimed in, thinking back to when he let Jude run off the day of the beach party.  “It’s not good to let someone leave when they’re upset like that.  I would know.”

 

“It doesn’t matter. He hates me now,” Lucas mumbled.

 

“Farkle doesn’t hate anyone you dumbo, not even his arch-nemesis Smackle!” Maya chided sternly. Jude fought the urge to roll his eyes. Farkle and Smackle? What was up with New York and bizarre names?

 

“B-but—” Lucas countered weakly.

 

“If you don’t, I swear to God I will have Maya kick your ass once I get back to New York,” Riley warned. Lucas peeked up at the girls and their matching steely expressions, the protest dying on his lips as he hesitantly moved to climb out of the window.  “Don’t you dare come back here until you’ve talked to him, even if you have to follow him all the way home!” Riley added.

 

Lucas lowered himself down the fire escape, trying to figure out what to even say to Farkle. What explanation was there (other than the truth) that didn’t make him look like an ass?  Trudging through the chilly night, the only conclusion Lucas could come to was to tell Farkle the truth.  No lie he could come up with was going to work.  Telling Farkle the truth was a terrifying prospect to Lucas. Farkle was in love with Riley and Maya; that much was obvious.  Farkle didn’t have feelings like that for him, and as soon as Farkle knew about his feelings…Lucas shuddered to think of how he’d probably react.

 

But Lucas didn’t have any more time to think about it as the other boy came into view, his head trained down on his feet as Farkle slowly shuffled down the street towards his home.

 

“Farkle?” Lucas called out to the boy quietly.  The reaction was almost immediate, Farkle turning around, angrily stalking towards Lucas. Even in the dim streetlights, Lucas could see Farkle’s tear-stained cheeks and eyes bloodshot from crying.

 

“I thought I was your best friend!” Farkle shouted, attempting to shove Lucas backward (though Lucas was bigger and stronger and could hold his ground easily).  “I thought that meant we told each other all our secrets! And yet you told everyone else your biggest secret before you told me!  You lied to me, so just please stop pretending you care about me and leave me alone.”

 

Lucas watched as Farkle turned and began to walk away again, feeling the panic rising in his chest with every step Farkle took.

 

“I care too much okay?” Lucas blurted out.  Farkle whipped around, looking at him questioningly, the anger still not fading from his expression. “I didn’t tell you because I care about you too much.”

 

“What the hell does that mean?” Farkle asked harshly, rage still present in every word that came from his mouth.

 

“It—it m-means I like you Farkle,” Lucas stuttered, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm his racing nerves. “A-as more than just your best friend. I mean—I think I l-love you—a-and I was afraid if I told you I was g-gay, you’d figure it out and be weirded out and not want to be my b-best friend anymore.”

 

The words tumbled from Lucas’ mouth before he could stop them.  He was too afraid of losing Farkle that he said the only thing he could think of to make him stop, that being the truth.  Lucas stared at Farkle’s blank, unreadable expression, feeling the tears starting to form at the corners of his eyes.  If Farkle wasn’t reacting, surely that meant he was looking for a way to let Lucas down easy.

 

“Wow,” Farkle muttered, a small smile starting to creep across his face.  Now it was Lucas’ turn to shoot Farkle a questioning look.

 

“What do you mean by ‘wow’?”

 

“I just mean, wow, it all makes sense now,” Farkle shrugged, walking over so there were only a few inches separating the two boys.  “The way you’re always close to me, finding some reason to be touching me, the goofy grins—it was all because you liked me, and I didn’t even realize,” Farkle continued, grabbing Lucas’ forearms and pulling him closer.

 

“What does that m—”

 

Before he could finish his question, Lucas was interrupted by a soft pair of lips fitting over his. Lucas was shocked, air rushing out of his lungs and his eyes going wide as he tried to process what was happening. His entire body felt frozen, save for the arms that he unconsciously wrapped around the smaller boy’s back, pulling him closer.

 

“Y-you just—you just kissed me,” Lucas said when Farkle pulled away, his entire brain in a foggy daze from what just took place.

 

“I-I’msorryIshouldn’thavedonethatitwastotallygoingtoofarandIshouldn’thave,” Farkle rambled nervously, trying to wriggle out of Lucas’ grip.

 

“Wait no, it’s fine,” Lucas quickly interjected, the words quickly cutting through the haze as he held the struggling boy close.  “I was just surprised.  I didn’t think you liked me too.  I thought you liked Riley and Maya.”

 

“Bisexualityisathingyouknow. ButIdon’tlikethemthatway. IneverdidIwasjusttryingtofoolmyself.”

 

“Farkle, slow down. I can barely understand you,” Lucas said softly, feeling comfort in the fact that Farkle appeared to be just as nervous and unsure as he felt.

 

“You—you are the first person I’ve ever actually liked,” Farkle replied, still struggling to keep his words from rushing out.

 

“Yeah, same here,” Lucas replied. He then paused, something flitting across his mind that he knew he needed to say.  “Hey, there’s something really important I need to tell you. I mean, all of us, Riley, Maya, Jude and Connor included,” Lucas gulped, taking Farkle’s hand and dragging him back to Riley and Maya’s room.

* * *

 

“We really need to do something about Zay,” Riley declared once Lucas was out of sight.

 

“What about Zay?” Mariana asked, sitting on the bed and sliding into view.  She didn’t need to ask who he was, as Riley and Maya had given her the run-down on who their friends were (at Mariana’s behest; she needed to know who her brother was going to be spending the week with).

 

“One of their friends—” Jude began, not knowing that Mariana already knew about him.

 

“He’s not our friend,” Riley cut in.  “Not if he’s as bad as you say.”

 

“Bad?” Mariana inquired, a quizzical look on her face.

 

“He’s a homophobe,” Connor answered.

 

“And a pretty serious one at that,” Jude added.

 

“Are you guys okay?” Mariana inquired, a look of concern immediately crossing her face.  “He didn’t bully you guys, did he?”

 

“No—well I mean, he tried to,” Jude shrugged.  “But Lucas kinda went off on him, and apparently, Zay is scared of Lucas.”

 

“Everyone is scared of Lucas. No one dares to mess with him, period,” Maya clarified.

 

“Hmm…did you try to talking to Zay about the things he said?” Mariana questioned, not necessarily trusting what the other four would come up with to fix it.  From where he was sitting in New York, Jude could recognize the look on his sister’s face; she was starting to plan something.

 

“Lucas tried, but he was pretty angry and yelling.  I’m not sure that Zay was really listening to him,” Connor responded.

 

“Maybe it’s not worth it,” Jude remarked, even though he wasn’t convinced of that himself. More than anything, he was simply stalling to give Mariana more time to come up with whatever her plan was going to be.

 

“Zay’s only 14. He’s still young and impressionable and—I think he might just be parroting things he heard back in Texas,” Mariana said, explaining her point of view on the matter, a plan already almost completely formed in her head.  “Perhaps if somebody educated him, he would realize how hurtful the things he said were.”

 

“My dad’s our history teacher,” Riley remarked.  “There might be a lesson he could teach to get the point across.”

 

“That’s exactly it!” Mariana exclaimed excitedly.  “Riley, can you get your dad to do a lesson on Stonewall?”

 

“Oh trust me, you don’t have to worry about that,” Maya chuckled.  “If you need us to be part of your plan, we’ve got it covered.”

 

“Great!  I—”

 

“Mariana! You’re going to be late for dance, let’s go let’s go let’s go!” Jude heard Stef yelling through the speaker, using her trademark “hurry up” phrase.

 

“Well I have to go to dance practice now, but let me know how it goes Judicorn.  I’ll talk to you later,” Mariana said, blowing a kiss at the screen before going out of view.

 

“I wish we could’ve thought of that first,” Riley grumbled to Maya, upset at being out-schemed by Jude’s sister.

 

“Can’t win ‘em all Riles,” Maya replied, comfortingly rubbing the other girl’s back.

 

Just then, Lucas and Farkle reappeared, clumsily crawling through the window (clumsily because both boys refused to let go of the other’s hand).

 

“So, how’d it go?” Riley asked them, a knowing smile creasing her face as her eyes fell on their connected hands.

 

“Great!” Farkle chirped, while Lucas stared at their intertwined hands and blushed.

 

“Yeah,” Lucas mumbled in agreement.

 

“So you two are a thing now?” Connor asked, ignoring the “I told you so” look he was getting from Jude.

 

“I don’t know,” Lucas answered. “There’s something I need y’all to know and after I tell you that, I don’t know that any of you will want to be my friends anymore.”

 

“Spit it out Huckleberry,” Maya ordered when a long, awkward silence fell over them.

 

Lucas took a deep breath before replying.

 

“Now that you all know I’m gay, I need to tell you the real reason I moved here from Texas. I—I wasn’t expelled for fighting. I made that up to avoid telling the truth.”

 

“So what actually happened?” Riley pressed, looking at Lucas with curious eyes.  Lucas opened his mouth to speak, but the words got caught in his throat. Farkle, sensing Lucas’ nerves, squeezed his hand in support, looking at him with his understanding blue eyes.

 

“I watched a kid commit suicide,” Lucas forced out, clenching his eyes shut as the words left his mouth.

 

“What?” they all replied in unison.

 

“There was this boy, Travis, who came out at my old school when I was in seventh grade. He was really sweet guy—I mean, I didn’t like him or have a crush on him, but he was nice and I didn’t want anything to happen to him.  So when he came out, I threatened all the bullies to lay off him.  Well all of the bullies, except Zay.  I just—I couldn’t stand up to him.  I was too afraid of what he would think—what he might realize if I stood up to him for Travis.  I watched as Zay did and said terrible things to him.  I didn’t realize how it was all affecting him, and by the time I did, well—that is one day that I can’t forget or forgive myself for,” Lucas said, softly and shakily.

 

_*Flashback*_

_Lucas shuddered, trailing behind Zay as he made that familiar trek to Travis’ locker. Lucas didn’t understand what Zay got out of bullying Travis.  He was just gay—he didn’t insult or threaten Zay.  He did nothing personal to Zay to deserve the treatment he was receiving. Not that Lucas was ever going to stop Zay.  If he did, then Zay would think he was gay and—well, Lucas didn’t want to lose the only friend he really had._

_As he always did, when Zay began his torment, Lucas tuned out Zay’s words, focusing his eyes anywhere but on the small, defenseless boy that was Zay’s target. That was until he heard the words that broke through his protective wall._

_“Why don’t you just do us all a favor and kill yourself, you pervert,” Zay spat._

_“Okay fine,” Travis replied emotionlessly, shutting his locker and slowly dragging himself away while Zay cheered._

_Lucas felt his blood run cold at the way Travis just so easily agreed. The boy sounded so tired and it sent chills down Lucas’ spine.  Lucas had a terrible feeling in his gut that Travis was serious.  Lucas knew he had to do something._

_As soon as school was over, Lucas sprinted over to Travis’ house (he remembered where it was from when they were friends as younger boys), praying that Travis hadn’t left school early and already gone through with it. The front door of the house hung open, making Lucas’ heart to sink.  Travis had been so distraught when he got home that he didn’t even bother to shut the front door behind him, and that wasn’t a good sign.  Lucas bolted up the path, ducking into the house at lightening speed._

_“Travis?” Lucas called out into the house cautiously, listening to for a response. All he got was sniffling coming from down the hall.  He slowly padded down it, finding Travis sitting on his bed, tears freely flowing down his cheeks. At first, he looked to be fine. That was until Lucas saw what the boy was holding in his hand: a gun that, for the moment, was pointing at his thigh. Lucas let out a frightened whimper, alerting Travis to his presence._

_“What are you doing here?” Travis growled, his head whipping around to face Lucas. Lucas didn’t know what to say. Frankly, he didn’t know why he was here either, except for the one thing that had been running through his mind on an endless loop since that morning._

_“Don’t do it,” Lucas pleaded.  “It—it’ll be okay just…just don’t do it.”_

_“Why do you even care?” Travis laughed at him, though it was a humorless laugh._

_“I don’t want you to kill yourself!” Lucas cried, his tone reaching a level of desperation that he’d never heard from his own voice before._

_“And that means that you care?  Bullshit! All you’ve ever done is stand by and watch him torment me!”_

_“I couldn’t stop him!  If I tried, he would know that I am too and he just—he can’t know!”_

_“So—so you knew how much all that hurt to hear, and you didn’t say a thing?”_

_“I know, I’m a coward,” Lucas swallowed harshly.  Travis was right; it all hurt him to hear as well, and he didn’t say a thing to stop Zay, instead tuning it all out and—well, not caring about what was happening to Travis._

_“You know what, it doesn’t matter.  I’m just so tired of it all, Lucas.  It’s not happening to me just at school, I get it 10,000 times worse here from my dad. My mom is too much of coward to stand up to him too, and it’s too hard.  I just can’t take it anymore,” Travis sighed, flicking off the safety and bringing the gun up to his temple, tears gathering in his eyes._

_“What if I got Zay to stop?  I’ll come out and I’ll protect you at school and—”_

_“I’m sorry Lucas,” Travis whispered, shaking his head for a moment before stilling. Lucas lunged, trying to knock the weapon from his hand, but he reacted too late.  A deafening bang filled the room and Travis crumpled onto the mattress._

_*End Flashback*_

 

“I—I called an ambulance, b-but it was already t-too late,” Lucas stuttered through a choked sob. “When my p-parents g-got me at the hospital, I t-told them everything.  About being g-gay, about Travis—and they d-decided it would be b-best if we moved away f-from Texas.”

 

As Lucas finished telling the story, he crumpled up into Farkle, crying into his shoulder.

 

“I-it was m-my f-fault!” Lucas wailed, his words muffled by the fabric of Farkle’s shirt.

 

“Oh love, it wasn’t your fault,” Stef reassured Lucas.  Stef and Lena had joined the call part way through Lucas’ story, and Jude was thankful his moms were there.  They would definitely know what to do better than all of them.

 

“You did everything you could and you can’t blame yourself,” Lena added, using her counselor’s voice.

 

“I-if I h-had st—”

 

“You can’t play the ‘what if’ game Lucas,” Lena interrupted.  “You can’t go back and change anything.”

 

“You didn’t mean for him to do it and that’s the most important thing,” Farkle continued, stroking Lucas’ hair as he held Lucas’ shaking body in his arms.

 

“S-so you don’t h-hate me?” Lucas asked, looking up at Farkle with wide eyes.

 

“I never could.”

 

Lucas’ cellphone going off interrupted things.  He quickly pulled it out, looking at the text.

 

“That’s my dad. I have to go,” Lucas commented, sitting up unsteadily.

 

“I’ll walk you home,” Farkle responded immediately, not trusting Lucas to be able to make it home on his own.

 

Once they were gone, Jude and Connor turned their attention back to Riley, Maya and Jude’s moms, though by this point, Jude was struggling to keep his eyes open. He opened his mouth to talk, and instead a loud, obnoxious yawn escaped.

 

“It’s getting late for you two,” Stef said, making a motherly observation.

 

“Yeah, we should probably get to bed,” Connor replied.

 

“Night moms,” Jude mumbled, already starting to drift off.

 

“Hey Connor?” Lena questioned as she and Stef stood up.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Just keep an eye out for Lucas. Make sure he’s doing alright.”

 

“Okay Lena.”


End file.
